Tezos – The lessons in how not to ICO

The woes of the erstwhile Tezos ICO have continued, as a second suit in as many weeks has been filed against the company. Again, the suit is filed as a class action, though this time in Federal District Court in Florida.

The filing makes clear that the ICO was indeed an offering of a security, though the company did not undertake to receive SEC approval for the issuance of a security, nor did it seek to vet all investors as ‘accredited’ according to the SAFT. According to the filing:

“Notwithstanding the defendants’ attempts to avoid governmental and private scrutiny, it is clear that the financiers were indeed profit-seeking investors in a security and that Defendants promoted and conducted an unregistered offering of securities, not a charitable fundraiser.”

This suit falls in line with the first filing, filed earlier in California, which claimed that the Breitmans and the Tezos team were truly offering securities to their investors, and sought to mislead them regarding the nature of the investment. The total number of plaintiffs in the class action is not yet known.